The Bureau of Labor Statistics has released its preliminary employment data for December 2021. The numbers shed light on Lubbock's progress in recovering from the economic downturn brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic as we head into 2022 and beyond.

Labor Force

One of the enduring challenges for businesses since March 2020 has been finding employees to fill job openings. In February 2020 - the last month prior to the COVID-19 pandemic - Lubbock had 164.7k in the local workforce. This figure bottomed out at 151k in April 2020 before beginning to climb. In July 2021, the civilian labor force reached pre-pandemic levels. As of December 2021, the figure sits at 166.3k, an increase of roughly 1,600 people or 1% more than before COVID-19.

Employment

Not only has the labor force in Lubbock grown since February 2020, the number of people with jobs has too. Prior to COVID-19, 160.2k people in Lubbock were employed. After plummeting to 136.5k in April 2020, this figure first reached pre-pandemic levels in November 2021 at 161.4k. At the end of 2021, 160.8k were employed in Lubbock, the second highest monthly total since the pandemic began.

Unemployment

One of the many detriments of COVID-19 was that it left many people out of work. Some were able to land on their feet quickly, while others struggled to regain employment. In February 2020, 4.5k in Lubbock were unemployed and the unemployment rate was a mere 2.7%. These figures both bottomed out in April 2020 with 14.5k people unemployed and an unemployment rate of 9.6%. Thankfully, the number of unemployed people in Lubbock has fallen to 5.5k. While this is still more than pre-pandemic, it represents the best such data since February 2020. The unemployment rate - also not quite at pre-pandemic levels - has fallen to a pandemic low of 3.3%.

The last two years have been difficult for a variety of reasons, but Lubbock area businesses and individuals have shown tremendous resilience. The data appear to show that we're headed in the right direction from an employment standpoint, which is encouraging for our entire community.